


Objects in Motion

by betweentheheavesofstorm



Series: Keeping One's Word And Other Mistakes [3]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Modern Westeros, Separations, Tarth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 23:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12220950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betweentheheavesofstorm/pseuds/betweentheheavesofstorm
Summary: It shouldn't be a surprise that she's outgrown Tarth. Stranger things have happened.





	Objects in Motion

‘Where is he?’

That’s the first thing Selwyn says to her. Never mind _how was your flight_ or _hello, my only daughter, I’ve missed you._ But _where is he,_ meaning Jaime. Even when she’s home she still can’t get away from him.

‘He couldn’t come,’ she says, taking a seat by his bedside. For the moment Selwyn is stable enough to remain at Evenfall, but the doctors have been clear that that could change. ‘How’ve you been?’

‘The same. Really, there was no need for you to come.’

‘Don’t be silly. I haven’t seen you for months.’ She folds her hands in her lap. Maybe it’s the time apart, but he looks so frail. He keeps insisting that he’s fine and that everyone’s overreacting. A terrible part of her is glad his stubbornness means she doesn’t have to stay on Tarth 24/7.

It’s her home, but that’s not all it is.

She still likes watching the water. The island rates highly among Westerosi holiday destinations and it’s no mystery why. The water is so impossibly blue that it’s easy to believe they’re somewhere more magical than they are.

Being back in her bedroom was also nice. The opulence of the hotel swung between pleasant and uncomfortable, and here she has a bed to herself. And _privacy._ With the Lannisters she had to be on constant guard. Even alone with Jaime, she had to be careful not to trip up. Even when she’d got to know him better. Especially when she’d got to know him better.

It’s the same every time she returns. She looks at the sea and the comforting familiarity of Evenfall and wonders why she ever left for the mainland. And then her father’s managers and secretaries hurry to remind her.

It starts as soon as she leaves Selwyn’s bedside. He _is_ glad to see her; she can see it in the lines around his eyes if not his words. His fixation on her love life is an inevitability she’s well used to.

It could well be different this time, she reasons, on her way down from Selwyn’s room. Time has passed since she was last on Tarth, she’s seen and done more than before. The secretaries all remember the naïve and earnest woman who left, she’s smarter than that now and they’ll surely recognise it.

It’s a delusion she goes through every time she comes back. When she first lays eyes on her father’s head of staff, she thinks maybe it’s actually happening. The man greets her courteously and inquires after her health. She begins to respond, until she sees the knowing gleam in his eyes and the words stick in her throat.

Fucking stupid, that’s what it is. She’s done everything she can to resist convention. Refused to be married off to the son of whichever business owner Selwyn wants to please. Found a drastically unsuitable profession and taken it up. Worked for Jaime Lannister and ended up playing his damn girlfriend. If she can handle Tywin at brunch, she should be able to handle small, petty men whose only advantage is having known her since she was a child.

She says the required things and authorizes Selwyn’s secretaries to act in his absence. The Seven knows what lords are meant to do in this day and age, but he is one and the list of duties is endless.

Brienne returns to the sea as soon as she can and takes some pictures to send Jaime. They haven’t spoken since they parted in King’s Landing. He’s either keeping a polite distance or has forgotten all about her. It’s not a pleasant thing to fixate on, but it’s better than wondering what the hell she’s supposed to do for a week with an ailing father and his smug minions.

Unknowingly, Jaime plays the role of distraction well. He responds almost immediately to the text: _“missing me already?”_

 _“You’re still alive, then”_ she texts back. She can’t go too far along the coast without losing mobile signal, so stops to sit on a weathered wooden bench. The emptiness of the sea washes over her and fills her, and she’s able to keep the conversation going without thinking about Jaime kissing her.

 _“regrettably”_ he replies.

_“Staying in King’s Landing?”_

_“yeah. how’s the sapphires?”_

_“Blue.”_ She’s tempted to add how bored she is, but that would probably constitute a hint about regretting going or wishing she could leave. However she might actually feel about those topics, she can’t express them to him.

 _“clearly you’re missing your calling to be a poet”_ he texts, and she almost smiles. When they’re not demanding where her boyfriend is or insinuating she’s an unsuitable heir, everyone here is resiliently serious.

In the pause it takes her to type a response, he sends another text.

_“you still doing the company dinner? Tyrion sent me a drinking game”_

_“Drinking game??”_

In lieu of replying, he forwards the original message. That does make her laugh, in spite of herself.

 _“Tyrion’s going to get alcohol poisoning_ ” she replies.

_“probably. You wanna play?”_

 

 

The week digs in its heels and refuses to pass quickly. Brienne spends every moment she can by the sea, and the rest reminding herself of what she’s got away from. It’s harder to think in perspective, when she’s texting Jaime like they’re still or ever were friends.

She didn’t expect to miss the mainland this much. She hasn’t the last couple times she’s been home, but now the smallness and relative silence of Tarth is claustrophobic. When she first left, the busyness of Storm’s End and then King’s Landing was overwhelming. There was always too much happening, demanding her brain work overtime to process it all. Now, left to stagnate with her father’s advisors, she finds herself missing it.

Nor is Selwyn terribly grateful for her presence. After their first couple of conversations, he began lapsing into silence and she couldn’t help but suspect he’d preferred it when she was away. Brienne out making a living was something he could work with. Even Brienne dating a member of a notorious family - that was fine. But Brienne, returning to play the dutiful daughter after spending over two decades refusing to? He doesn’t know what to do with that anymore than she does.

The end of the week creeps slowly into view. She’s beginning to think about what she’ll say to Jaime when they’re back together. Probably nothing. The break might have given them the space they need. She’ll go back and it’ll be how it was and –

Selwyn gets worse. It’s implausible that it should happen this week of all weeks, when she’s been away so long, and yet it does. The doctor claims it’s natural for a man of his age and it’s remarkable he’s been as robust as he is, but it all sounds hollow.

She told everyone that her father was declining. It was her excuse to come back. Even though the logical part of her can recognise there’s no connection, it doesn’t stop the guilt from gnawing at her. She should have just stayed in the hotel and weathered whatever embarrassing consequences there were.

It doesn’t help that her father refuses to have her around. He gets it into his head that she’s wasting her time sitting at his sickbed and insists that she use her time productively instead of in the hospital. Not that there’s anything to do. She spends all the time she can with him, and when he sends her away she goes straight to the sea and fails to convince herself that this isn’t somehow her fault.

Jaime doesn’t respond for a couple of hours when she texts him to say she won’t be attending the dinner. Nor does he address the end of her message, where she promises to reimburse him the week’s wages. He’s not even annoying about it, which in its own way is kind of worrying. He just says he’ll sort it out. After all he’s put her through, she better not end up in his emotional debt here.

Of course, he might not think she’s being serious. As emphatic as she was that it’s actually happening, there could be a part of him that thinks she’s just saying it to get out of the company dinner.

She squashes the thought down. He must trust in her honesty by now. It was the reason he picked her to be his fake girlfriend in the first place. Well, that and the fact that she was the most unsuitable partner he could think of.

Whatever the reason, he texts her less frequently after that. He’s probably busy, or thinks she’s busy and doesn’t want to disturb her. Maybe they can frame this as the estrangement that ends their public relationship. The pressure it put her under, a situation he couldn’t relate to, et cetera.

She’s not sure if she’s being melodramatic in thinking she’s surrounded by endings. 

**Author's Note:**

> It turns out university does take up a lot of time and I have way more distractions than I thought.
> 
> Sorry that this part is a little shorter - as I said, it's a busy time. 
> 
> If you enjoyed it or have any questions please let me know in a comment or on [Tumblr](http://www.betweentheheavesofstorm.tumblr.com)


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